The No. 11 Loyola University Maryland women’s lacrosse team saw its upset bid fall just short at No. 2 Syracuse Saturday afternoon, falling in overtime to the Orange, 14-12, in the Carrier Dome. The loss snaps the Greyhounds’ 12-game win streak and moves them to 14-5 this season, while the Orange improve to 18-2.

Junior Kara Burke led Loyola with three goals and one assist, while classmate Annie Thomas had two goals and two assists and senior Marlee Paton added two goals and one assist. Senior Ali Habicht and junior Hannah Schmitt each contributed two goals, while junior Taryn VanThof had one goal and junior Sydney Thomas added one assist.

Alyssa Murray and Kayla Treanor each had four goals for the Orange.

The Greyhounds fell behind early in the opening half, as Syracuse jumped out to a 6-1 advantage. The Orange scored the first three goals of the game, before Burke caused a turnover and raced Syracuse goalkeeper Alyssa Costantino to the goal, scoring before Costantino was able to get situated at 22:59.

The Orange continued their run though, finding the back of the net three more times before Loyola was able to string together three-unanswered goals at 11:07 to pull within two, at 6-4. Paton from Sydney Thomas started the streak, while Schmitt and then VanThof - from Annie Thomas - also scored, respectively. The Orange then netted their seventh goal of the game for a 7-4 advantage at 4:47.

Annie Thomas scored, assisted by Paton, with 1:35 left before halftime to keep the Greyhounds’ within two, 7-5, at the break.
Burke, from Annie Thomas, at 22:05, started the second-half scoring before a free-position goal from Habicht tied the game at seven all. The Orange regained the lead with back-to-back goals for a 9-7 lead with 19:12 on the clock, but Loyola responded by holding Syracuse scoreless for almost 14 minutes while it scored five-straight goals. Annie Thomas and Burke netted free-position goals to tie the game at nine, followed by scores from Schmitt, Paton and Habicht, respectively, to give Loyola it’s first lead of the day and a 12-9 advantage.

Syracuse had a quick answer though, scoring 24 seconds later and added a second at 4:13 to pull within one, 12-11. The Orange’s free-position goal with 41 seconds to play forced overtime, where they used a goal in each of the three-minute periods to fight off Loyola’s upset bid, en route to a 14-12 victory.

Paton led the defense with four ground balls, five draw controls and six caused turnovers, while sophomore Maddy Lesher added three ground balls.